Erdogan: Riad ordered Khashoggi's killing

Believes that the order for Khashoggi's death came from the top: Recep Tayyip Erdogan(Photo: dpa)

Saturday, 03. November 2018

It was not until the middle of last week that the Saudi government admitted that the pro-government journalist Jamal Khashoggi was deliberately killed. Then grisly details of the deed come to light – and now the Turkish president even lays down personally and accuses Riyadh directly.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blames the Saudi government for killing journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The order to kill Khashoggi had come from the "highest levels" of the Saudi government, Erdogan wrote in a guest commentary on the Washington Post published Friday. Erdogan added that there are still important questions left in the case, such as what happened to the journalist's body. "Regrettably, the Saudi authorities have not answered these questions."

Saudi government critic Khashoggi went to the Consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to collect papers for his planned wedding. After that, the journalist did not show up anymore. Riyadh had only weeks later and under massive international pressure admitted that the 59-year-old was killed in the consulate.

"Broken into pieces" and "destroyed"

The Turkish Prosecutor General's Office said on Wednesday that the Saudi journalist had been strangled shortly after entering the consulate. Subsequently, his corpse was "cut into pieces" and then "destroyed".

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About a month after the fact, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the crime on Friday. At the same time, he pointed to a crucial role for Saudi Arabia in the fight against Iran. "What happened at the Istanbul Consulate is terrible, and it should be dealt with appropriately," Netanyahu said. But at the same time it is "very important for the stability in the region and the world that Saudi Arabia remains stable".

Israel and the Sunni Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are equally hostile to Shi'ite Iran and want to repress its influence in the region. Netanyahu is considered the sharpest critic of the nuclear deal with Iran.